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noun

‘the day he made it to the bigs, he forgot every minor league ballpark he ever played in’

‘Besides that, he came up to the bigs as a catcher but turned himself into an All-Star second baseman because he thought he would be more valuable to his team in that position.’

‘But as the first minor-leaguer I followed to make good in the bigs, he holds a special distinction in my eyes.’

‘He got his first taste of the bigs in 1995, but he didn't stick until '98.’

‘What are the most important metrics you use in evaluating whether a minor leaguer can be successful in the bigs?’

‘If all goes well, I think it is possible that he could get a shot in the bigs sometime next year.’

‘After an apprenticeship in the minors, a few umpires are picked to jump to the bigs.’

‘In 1974, the 31-year old John underwent an elbow reconstruction procedure which was so successful that it allowed him to pitch another 14 years in the bigs - and at a higher level than before.’

‘He never made it to the bigs, but he knew his craft.’

‘He stole 31 bases and hit 19 triples in the minors over 2,718 at bats; but just 4 SBs and 6 3Bs in 1718 ABs in the bigs.’

‘Unlike other parts of the Caribbean, where seeing the hometown boys in the bigs is a source of pride, the Mexican baseball powers have decided to keep the product local.’

‘Two years later, he made his major-league debut with the Chicago White Sox, and the next season, he was in the bigs to stay.’

‘At the start of his third season in the bigs, he was going through a divorce, but he didn't think it affected his game.’

‘His first exposure to the bigs was with the Pilgrims.’

‘But he fell victim to a kidney disease and his health deteriorated; he won only 14 more games in the bigs after that five year stretch.’

‘His last appearance in the bigs is one for the annals; in 1912, when he was 48 years old, he was part of a one-game makeshift team fielded by the Detroit Tigers.’

‘But even among these successful major leaguers, their first couple of months in the bigs were a struggle, with average performances more than 20 percent below their eventual career norms.’

‘He hopes his affordability will help him make it back to the bigs.’

‘For the optimistic fan, it's a reminder of just how difficult professional baseball is, and a chance to see minor league players learning to do the things that will get them to the bigs.’

‘Opening day for his league is April 5-about the same as the bigs - and after our previous drill session, a few days earlier, I knew we had a problem.’

‘There have been 36 ballplayers with the first name Jay to have played in the bigs, and most of them have done so in my lifetime - an exciting demographic trend to someone who never met another person with the same name until after college.’

Phrases

big with child

archaic In a late stage of pregnancy.

‘The woman was very big with child and rode on a donkey, and her husband went from door to door seeking shelter for his wife, but he was told at every inn that there was no vacancy.’

‘After some months, the weary young girl, now big with child, came to the city of Torre-Longa.’

‘If anything happens to the woman I shall impute it to him, for she was big with child.’

‘She was quite big with child, and looked to be confined every hour.’

‘My wife, big with child, was sitting in the rocking chair a few feet from me, and I was sitting by the table.’

expecting a baby, having a baby, with a baby on the way, having a child, expectant, carrying a child

A name given by hunters to the five largest and most dangerous African mammals: rhinoceros, elephant, buffalo, lion, and leopard.

‘Most people on safari are after the big five - lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino.’

‘Hundreds of thousands from all over the world flock here year round for a glimpse of the big five: elephant, buffalo, leopard, rhino and lion.’

‘You are guaranteed to tick off the full roster of the big five lion, buffalo, leopard, rhino and elephant.’

‘The economics of shooting with the big five of Africa - the elephants, the giraffes, the rhino, the zebra and the buffaloes should be attractive, he said.’

‘Another good option is to fly to the Maasai Mara, Kenya's top wildlife sanctuary and home to the big five - elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo.’

the big idea

ironic A clever or important intention or scheme.

‘the government's big idea was to make public services competitive’

‘The Party can then look forward to another term on the opposition benches, waiting, no doubt, for the next big idea.’

‘Its pastel-colour palette and cutout design was impressive because it managed to turn a relatively small space into a big idea.’

‘The big idea here is to pay attention when watching.’

‘His big idea, the one that will stay with me, is this: never trust a politician - or a political system - that you cannot get rid of.’

‘A successful government has to convert the country to its own big idea.’

‘So a change in format will be the big idea that turns things around?’

‘And what's the big idea of having a curfew at the hostel, locking the doors at midnight?’

‘If ever there was a big idea translated into policy by a president that was it.’

‘No doubt the plans for a regional parliament another bureaucratic big idea will bring even more burden to the over-stretched taxpayer.’

‘Forget the music, it is the journey that's the big idea.’

the big lie

A gross distortion or misrepresentation of the facts, especially when used as a propaganda device by a politician or official body.

‘The leader has ‘bottomless wells of sincerity’, some commentators have said, that he draws on wonderfully when he tells his next big lie.’

‘The party has mastered the art of telling half truths and the big lie.’

‘What the candidate has done here is told the big lie about embryonic stem cells.’

‘‘Climate change’; it sounds innocuous, but for some scientists it spells doom, to others it represents a big lie.’

‘But there are still some observers pointing out the big lie.’

‘The politician knows these facts but also knows his big lie will probably endure.’

‘We'll remain cautiously optimistic that this isn't a pre-election strategy or an exercise in optics; that it isn't another big lie.’

‘Told with sincerity to a people anxious for reassurance, deriving from some source beyond and greater than its speaker, the big lie is so outrageously improbable that no one could possibly make it up.’

‘I believe that these charges are going to prove to be the ultimate big lie.’

‘Some members of the administration may be in the process of discovering that, given time, the big lie turns on itself.’

big money

informal Large amounts of money.

‘Emily earns big bucks on Wall Street’

‘He showed us how to use big money, and now big money has become the rule of the day.’

‘Companies pay big money to make sure that their product gets in front of the right people and makes them want to buy.’

‘He says he will release big money for book serialisations and buy-ups.’

‘If the price moves in the investor's favour, big money can be made from a relatively small stake, but huge sums can also be lost.’

‘Doesn't that sort of fly in the face of this argument that big money corrupts the system?’

‘We were never like big, big money, but we made a lot of money and we also spent a lot on things like travelling musicians and dancers.’

‘With business and sport now irretrievably entwined, there's big money in medals.’

‘For some, this was a sign that money, big money, could be made by making a movie of the story.’

‘We've not gone into the transfer market and spent big money but we've got some quality players.’

‘How did it become a big money sport, and how have you turned it into such a great business?’

‘We are told that corporates have taken to such dance lessons in a big way.’

‘People, especially those in the bigger cities, are investing in a big way in mutual funds.’

‘That affected me in a big way - I think I'm only now beginning to come to terms with it.’

‘Apologies for last week, but lethargy and apathy set in in a big way.’

‘If the project takes off in a big way, the potential for a more realistic movie experience may not be very far off.’

‘It is a wonderful example of how Canadian films are breaking into new territory in a big way.’

‘That which was not necessarily noticed in a big way would suddenly become the focus of everybody's attention.’

‘Of course, their cause was aided in a big way by one of the biggest corporations around.’

‘The spiralling unemployment rate has resulted in the frustrated youth taking to crime in a big way.’

‘The Internet's traditional advantages come to play in a big way to make it an effective way to meet people.’

make it big

informal Become very successful or famous.

‘Most people think of success as making it big in power and money.’

‘A year earlier he had taken the Premiership by storm - scoring eight goals in 34 starts - a talented teenager making it big in a man's world.’

‘After a series of setbacks during the past 12 months, the industry now feels rejuvenated with family themes making it big at the box-office.’

‘They have no dream of making it big in racing - they just want to get behind the wheel.’

‘Every band dreams of making it big but we were just happy having fun really.’

‘For every successful cartoonist who makes it big, there are thousands of other equally talented artists that go completely unrecognized.’

‘You want to talk about someone who's making it big?’

‘‘Many successful entrepreneurs suffered failures before they made it big,’ he notes.’

‘I spent a few years playing in a garage band and the biggest failure there was we never really tried to make it big.’

‘Since he was a child Matthew dreamed of making it big, of being a player in a country where more than half of the national wealth is controlled by a handful of families.’

talk big

informal Talk boastfully or overconfidently.

‘Henry was new to the job but he was already talking big’

‘Rogers and all of the others who talked big back at the beach began to change when we got to the replacement area in Belgium.’

‘The retail company talked big but delivered little for consumers.’

‘His detractors on both left and right, however, say he talked big but accomplished little.’

‘A couple of my co-workers have met the challenge, and a couple of them have failed miserably, although they talked big about it afterwards.’

‘Toad talked big about all he was going to do in the days to come, while stars grew fuller and larger all around them, and a yellow moon, appearing suddenly and silently from nowhere in particular, came to keep them company and listen to their talk.’

‘My dad was the type who talked big about getting a new car, but rarely acted.’

‘Behind the green baize bravado was quite evidently a character who talked big when the chips were up, but folded when it came to real life.’

‘If, however, he doesn't stand firm, he will be ridiculed as someone who talked big and couldn't stand the heat in the kitchen.’

‘She is not a person who talks big; she is just studiously working away.’

‘As for the minister, this won't be the first time he has talked big but achieved much less.’

‘Under his chairmanship, the club thought big and aimed high - then ultimately fell hard when the dreams failed to come true and the lavish spending off the pitch failed to translate into success on it.’

‘I have always thought big and it seems to have paid off.’

‘His energy was unflagging, he thought big and bold.’

‘It has a wonderful under-age structure and everybody involved in the club thinks big about all issues, always wanting to improve.’

‘The logo is the mark of a bank thinking big and growing into an ambitious and resplendent entity.’

‘It thinks big, has a vision of the future and measures each step it will take.’

‘‘I went in thinking big and the idea got pared down a bit,’ she says.’

‘In business terms and culturally we are very similar: a small people thinking big, and I urge any ambitious company to go for it.’

‘Donald learned the business from his father, but with a twist: He thought big, very BIG.’

‘This gives them a double chance, and must give them the incentive to think big.’

too big for one's boots

informal Conceited.

‘I think that room is appearing again for the little man and people want to say to the big guys that they're getting too big for their boots.’

‘They long ago became just too big for their boots.’

‘If you've got wealth, privilege or exalted connections crowned with success, then in this country you are judged way too big for your boots and in need of an urgent reality check.’

‘He's been getting far too big for his boots recently.’

‘‘He told me never to be too big for your boots and always be friendly to everyone,’ she said.’

‘Basically, they think you're too big for your boots and want you cut down to size.’